Celebrating 40 years of degrees-IUSB alumni recall when they were students on campus.

April 18, 2007|JENNIFER OCHSTEIN Tribune Correspondent

The first time Carol Shumaker attended Indiana University South Bend, most students were like her. "The average age was 20 to 30 working adults," she said at a celebration Saturday marking the 40th year IUSB has granted degrees. Representatives from each graduating class walked the university's new pedestrian bridge, which was followed by an ice cream social. Shumaker graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in biology. Now she's working on a master's degree in public affairs. "You know that movie with Rodney Dangerfield, 'Back to School?'" Shumaker asked. "I feel like that now, now that I'm in my 50s." She said students at the school now are much younger than they were her first time around. "There's a broad range of ages and people from different countries," she said. "It makes things interesting." And she couldn't leave out the fact that IUSB has grown over the years. "When I started there was only Northside and Greenlawn," she said, referring to two buildings on campus. "And the library was in Northside." And when her husband, a retired IUSB biology professor, started school there the only building was Greenlawn. Shumaker is thankful for IUSB. "I don't think I would have gotten my education if it weren't here," Shumaker said. "I couldn't afford Notre Dame, and that's a university where the expectation is that you only go to school and don't work. If IUSB weren't here, a lot of average people wouldn't have been able to get an education. And it puts education in the doable range. I'm paying for classes now out of pocket." Martin Lukaszewski, who graduated from IUSB in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in education, said the first time he was on campus was with his mother in 1968. "She went to school here, and then I went to school here," Lukaszewski said. Experiencing IUSB both as a commuter and traditional student was a unique experience, allowing him to become student body president in 1996-97 since he understood the needs of different students. As someone with a history as a student as well as an employee (working for a time as assistant women's basketball coach), Lukaszewski said IUSB has had a major impact on the community. "You can't walk into any school in the area and not see a teacher from IUSB," Lukaszewski said. The same is true with the area's business community and politicians, he said. Kathy Borlik, associate director of communications at IUSB, said two-thirds of IUSB's graduates stay in the Michiana communities they grew up in after attending the school. "You can't go anywhere and not see someone who went here," Borlik said. "There's a lot of people in business and government and education. A huge number of teachers have gotten their master's degrees here." Michael and Shannon Renfrow, a married couple who are both students at IUSB, will graduate in 2008 together, she with a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and he with a master's degree in public affairs. She also graduated with an associate degree in psychology in 2003, and he graduated with a general studies bachelor's degree in 2005. Shannon Renfrow, who intends to go on to medical school, said that with her children she has no other options than to go to IUSB. Nonetheless, she's pleased with the education she's received. She called it "accessible" but of "high caliber." Her husband said it's been exciting to see the university grow even as they've been attending. "We've been lucky to be a part of the growth spurt," said Michael, who's an admissions counselor at the school. He said having a campus like IUSB makes higher education accessible to nearly everyone. "We're just really happy to be here," Shannon Renfrow said.